The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.

From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."

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Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Quality will defeat the boycotts - Eli Hazan

by Eli Hazan

Globalization
may have generated challenges for our image, but it also allows us to
highlight the greatest Israeli qualities.

There is no doubt. The boycott movement against Israel is growing and strengthening.

In an era when
financial interests play a key role, when bad can be portrayed as good
and moral values can be made to seem negative, when the murders of
innocent people can be portrayed in such a skewed light and disconnected
from their context, it would appear that Israel has no chance of
winning the war of delegitimization that is being waged against it, the
world's only Jewish state, and, not coincidentally, the only real
democracy in the Middle East. "Appear" being the operative word.

But we need to take a
hard look at reality, without any embellishment, with a controlled and
clear-headed perspective that takes into account all the negative
factors that affect our situation for the worse, as well as all the
positive factors that grant us the ability to deal with the seemingly
impossible situation. In this context, one can't help but recall the
words spoken by late Zionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky: If it is
difficult, then it is possible.

Many of the media
outlets in Israel do their job well enough, presenting the complex
reality of the boycotts against Israel -- but they do only half the
work. They should also present the other side of the coin. For every
boycott movement and initiative against Israel there is the Israeli
creativity, endless investment in development, originality,
extraordinary human capital, rapid comprehension, productivity and
outside-the-box thinking that stands in our favor. There is also our
self-criticism, which at times can be excessive. All of this creates a
unique mixture that increasingly allows us to break down the misguided
perceptions about us.

This, for example, was
evident when Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz
(Likud) signed a joint transport security agreement with newly appointed
British Ambassador to Israel David Quarrey last week. Katz works hard
to tighten cooperation in areas related to aviation agreements and
building the light rail, but he also goes beyond this, and he's not they
only one.

And anyway, it seems
that those who have such a pessimistic outlook on the boycott movement
have lost all perspective. Israel's international standing is better
than it has ever been. We have a tendency to forget the Arab boycott
that impacted Israel for decades and the intense international criticism
that we faced long before we controlled Judea and Samaria.
Globalization may have generated new challenges for our image, but it
also allows us to highlight the Israeli qualities that benefit so many
people around the world. Not just the IDF emergency rescue missions, but
also medical and scientific inventions and innovations in technology
and medicine that have led many to prefer quality over criticism.

In the coming days, the
fate of the natural gas industry outline will be decided. Now
especially, passing the outline carries with it great significance. It
is not only about the flow of economic capital to be put towards
critical needs that will benefit Israeli society, but also the capital
that will advance research and development to help us deal not only with
the boycott against Israel, but also to let us persevere and become a
superpower -- albeit one small in land, but great in its people.

Eli Hazan is the Likud party's director of communications and international relations.